This should shake up the playoff picture, especially in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook will undergo surgery later today to repair a torn meniscus in in his right knee. The Thunder guard injured his knee in the win over the Rockets on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. As of now there is no timetable for his return to the team, and he is listed as being out indefinitely for the Thunder's playoff run. For the Thunder, this is a huge blow for their playoff hope as they lose their second best player to a torn meniscus. They could be in serious trouble without a legit scoring option alongside Kevin Durant, and are now vulnerable to being upset in the Western Conference playoffs when before this news it seemed like a consensus that the West was the Thunder's for the taking. Now who will step up to get the points that Westbrook brought to the table, and more importantly who will create enough problems for defenses to take some of the pressure off of Durant?
With a 2-0 lead over the Rockets in the first round, the Thunder should have no problem finishing off that series and advancing to the second round, but from there it starts to get dicey for the defending Western Conference champs as they lose a superstar point guard. The Thunder now become a lot less athletic and explosive with Westbrook in a hospital bed and could easily falter when they face the Spurs, or the Clippers. Can Kevin Durant carry them to the Finals again this year without a legit scoring partner to help him? I highly doubt it. And if he somehow carries this team to the NBA Finals, his reward will be getting swept by the Miami Heat in an unbelievably lop-sided series. All talk of the Thunder beating the Heat this year was just absurd to begin with, and now with Russell Westbrook out you can forget even the small chance that they had to pull off the upset against Lebron and crew.
No comments:
Post a Comment